#Maybe this is going to sound really horrible

[utahimesgf]

𝐀𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬

summary: when megumi is around you, he can’t seem to catch his breath. his allergies are really bad.

warnings: poor megumi. buddy is suffering! fem! reader, oblivious megumi, idiots. kiss-ish (maybe) idk is there?

authors note: since megumi here won the poll, here’s the fic as promised! this was cute and fun to finish up. he’s so beautiful i wanna kms

with the sweet scent of spring flowers and tree leaves, the smell of spring weaved into the breeze as needles knit clothes, steady and soft, creating something beautiful.

with the change of the season came a change of emotions, twisted and unwelcome, the feelings inside Megumi’s chest become more of an abnormality than his irritating classmates.

with the exception of you, of course.

with the change in year, came the change in visuals. with the leaves of spring littering the ground, Megumi found himself with a heavy burden. a suffocating feeling, a gnawing sensation.

The boy wasn’t one for allergies, his immune system lived up to its name— so, when spring came around and he suddenly began to feel short of breath and warm, he wondered if maybe he’d grown into allergies. the thought was disturbing.

Cherry blossom trees littered all over japan, but it only seemed his ‘allergies’ decided to act up in the strangest times. Sometimes, in class. others, outside.

but, what surprised him, is that when he walked along the most heavily pollinated roads, his allergies showed no trace.

perhaps, he’d thought, he wasn’t sensitive to the blossoms, but something else.

what could it be?

“Megumi-kun!”

the suffocation of his closing throat was surprising, and he felt almost as though he could drop to the floor— claw and beg for air, a desperate attempt really— but, instead of that, he subtly turned afoot and faced the call of the voice.

you walked over to him, the pounding of his heart in its prison rang throughout his body like a scream in an empty cave, shaking him.

the smile on your face was radiating, sweet and soft like the petals of a sakura. warm and gentle, like the tender kiss of the sun on cold skin. Your eyes were bright, like the stars in the sky on a dark night. like the reflection of the sunset on a river, shining so bright it hurt.

Megumi didn’t reply, he couldn’t find the words, silence engulfed his mind and soul, and he hoped he wasn’t gaping at you. that would surely be embarrassing.

“where are you going?” you ask, voice littered with a hint of genuine wonder, tilting your head in that cute way you do when you’re curious. Your eyes squint the smallest amount, skeptical of where he was going, brows furrowing in wait for a response.

Megumi swallowed the lump that grew in his throat, choking him.

“the store.” those two words felt like he’d just screamed the best he could with no effect, helpless and unable to do what he wants. Two words were all it took for you to light up like a candle.

He watched your curiosity and wonder construct into joy and excitement, putting your hands together a front your chest. “ah! do you mind if I tag along? I was going to do the same.” Initially, fushiguro wanted to say no, his allergies were pretty horrible, but he couldn’t find his voice to deny your request.

the breeze spoke for him, shuffling his hair around and allowing him to subtly nod his head. and as you clap excitedly , beginning to talk about whatever it was you thought he would find interesting, he couldn’t help but stare at you. your voice was a melody unlike anything he’s ever heard, a song that was more beautiful than the songbirds that sing good morning. more beautiful than the sounds of the sakura petals hum in the spring.

from jujutsu high, the nearest convenience store was about a ten minute walk. though, with you, it felt like seconds.

before the blacked haired boy knew it, the bell to the automatic sliding door opened, and you were quick to ask him what he came for.

“what did you need to get, gumi?”

that nickname had him on another planet. orbiting a in a separate galaxy, far, far away. Once again, the poor boys allergies acted up. throat sewed so tight he couldn’t breathe, heart beating so fast it shook his whole body. was it really this awfully warm in the store? was it him? or was it the hand you had around his arm?

“ah! i know. it was shonen, right? for yuji-kun?” how did you know that?

Itadori had basically begged him to go the store to get him the weekly shonen because he’d been banned from the store a few weeks ago, and he just couldn’t go without the manga. Eventually, despite fushiguro’s protests, itadori successfully managed to convince Megumi to do his dirty deed.

Fushiguro nodded. He swallowed, and he swore it was the most difficult action he’d ever taken. Why were you so close? he could smell you.

you smelled like the sakura blossoms.

“i knew it!” you shook your head, releasing the soft grip you had on megumi’s arm to tuck some hair behind your ear. “Well, i’m here for a few snacks.” you bashfully admit, motioning towards the fridge.

“I’ll be quick, so you don’t have to wait!” you say, smiling as you walk off. Megumi’s eyes trail after you, his heart beating in his throat.

these allergies were ruining his life.

After a moment, he made his way over to the books. The latest shonen was on display above all others, beside a shoujo. two opposites, yet they rival eachother perfectly.

He reached for the shonen, grabbing it from its stand and flickering his gaze to the shoujo as well.

would you like something like this?

sometimes he catches you reading manga. they always have silly romance titles and a couple on the cover. do you like shoujo? or do you prefer shonen like itadori-kun?

without his permission, megumi’s hand reached for the shoujo. it was labeled ‘when the heart beats for someone, it’s the words ‘i love you.’’ he stared at the cover with a blank face. why was the title so long? He looked to the shonen, ‘Fight Or Die!’ this one was pretty self explanatory, but with a short title.

He put the two books back to back, walking over to the checkout. He wasn’t sure if he’d give the manga to you, but if he did he’d hoped you’d like it it. he thinks you would.

before he bought his things, he glances to the food area.

you were in deep thought, apparently. brows furrowed, cheeks slightly puffed, eyes squinted— the face you made when you were highly focused or confused on a subject in school, megumi recognized it all too well. he waits a moment, thinking. should he buy your food? he did walk with you. but, he had limited money and was already buying to books. how much was food at this place again?

he was deep in thought by the time you finished, approaching him with two items in your hand. “Ready?” your voice knocks the breathe from his lungs, stealing his air like you were on the moon. he nods.

He watched you pull out your wallet, and before he could offer to pay— “are you going to put the manga down?” your voice held the smallest tint of tease to it, taking the books from his hand and adding them to your bill. was he really about to let you pay for his books?— even though, technically only one was his. You didn’t seem to catch into the covers as you paid, thanking the employee and turning around to face megumi.

he was almost embarrassed when the second you turned around your eyes locked— was he really staring? you smiled, grabbing your snacks and allowing him to grab his books, bidding goodbye to the store employee as you excited through the same door you entered through.

Silence followed for a moment as you two walked, but it wasn’t the suffocating kind. it was… nice.

Megumi reached into his pocket, retrieving around 500 yen, stopping in his tracks and holding the coins to you. you looked at him confused.

“For the Manga,” he clarified, holding up the books. You sent him a close eyed smile, reaching to his had— but, instead of taking the money, you closed his fingers around his palm, shutting his hand into a soft fist. “No need, it’s my treat.” you clarify, holding a thumbs up. “oh!” you say suddenly, holding up a small pack of two Yuki ichigo.

Now, it was megumi’s turn to be confused, brows furrowing as he subconsciously tilted his own head, black hair shifting lightly. Cute!

“It’s for us to share, if you’d like.” you offer with a shy smile , one he didn’t seem to catch onto. “I wasn’t sure what flavor you liked, so i got a two pack. one is strawberry and the other is…” you turn the back of the plastic, not seeing a name. “… it doesn’t say. but… hopefully you like strawberry because it’s yuki ichigo.” you chuckle a little nervously, a little flustered you’d not checked both flavors. Megumi likes strawberry, so you didn’t choose bad.

“I like strawberry.”

your face absolutely exploded into one of relief and joy, “But i can’t accept it.” your expression fell just as fast, a small frown on your lips. megumi watched, shuttering.

“You already paid for my Manga.” he said, looking to the two books. separating them, he put the shonen in his bag and nervously held the shoujo.

“I… thought that maybe you’d like this.” his voice came out much calmer than he thought he would, and he couldn’t find it in himself to meet your eye.

what kind of guy was he, really? he wanted to give you something, and you ended up paying for it.

a gasp from your lips made his eyes flicker up, breath being once more stolen from his body as the expression on your face lit up.

“I love this one!” you replied happily, taking the book from his grasp and gently brushing your fingers against his. “Thank you, gumi.” you smile fondly, and only then, does megumi see the small tint of peachy pink on your cheeks.

was that.. blush?

with newfound courage, you smile, stepping on your toes.

Megumi’s breath caught in his throat as you got closer, eyes watching you like a magnet, and heart pausing when you placed a soft, warm kiss the the tense jaw of the black haired boy. Your lips were so smooth, he could smell your cherry lipstick. he could feel the lipgloss mark it left on his burning skin.

it was only then, under the sakura tree in early may, with the sun shining on your face and the shoujo he’d thought you’d like in your hand; did he finally realize that his thing he’d been feeling, it wasn’t allergies.

it was love. and, he’s sure it would ruin his life, as the way you hid your face behind the Manga he’d gifted you made him want to squeal like a little boy.

[alk4li]

“CONVENIENCE STORES—

neuvillette x afab!reader (modern AU)

after a bad date you bump into your brother's roommate, neuvillette, in front of a convenience store

the night had been less than desirable. in fact, it was a nightmare. this could be chalked up to the horrible date you were just on, or the heels you wore were digging into your heel; your legs were aching from the long walk and your skin felt sweaty from all the walking you had done. although, it was probably your date who had left you mid dinner to play a game with his friends.

"i'll be single forever," you grumbled under your breath, suddenly, a bright light illuminating from your peripheral vision catches your attention. turning towards the light source, you see a local convenience store and a figure stepping out from the door.

"y/n?" the tall man sounded surprised and began taking slow steps towards you. confused, you squinted your eyes and as the man reached an arms length from you. you get a clearer look at his face. "neuvillette?" you stood there frozen, blinking at him.

“why are you out so late? where's your brother?” he asked. as your eyes adjust to the light, you drink in neuvillette's dark eyes, his hair tousled but not tangled, and the way the shirt he wore was a little too small for his large frame.

you snapped from your daze, registering what neuvillette just said. you awkwardly shrugged, "long story."

neuvillette raised an eyebrow, "do you need me to walk you back home?"

before you could respond, your stomach let out an extremely loud grumble. horrified, you stared at neuvillette who failed trying to hide his amusement, "hungry?"

you bashfully nodded, letting neuvillette guide you back to the convenience store.

after purchasing a small bag of chips and a bottle of water, you gingerly sat down on the concrete pavement outside of the convenience store with neuvillette in lieu.

after a moment of silence, you speak up, "i had a really bad date." your statement causes neuvillette to turn his attention to you, "don't tell my brother, he'll sue me." a quiet chuckle erupts from your brother's best friend, who gives an understanding nod.

"really?" he rhetorically asks, "how bad?"

a petrified expression befalls your face, "he kept an excel spread sheet of all his past dates and how well they did," you fumed. "and he left in the middle of dinner to play valorant with his mates."

neuvillette looks at you with a look of unbelief, "is every guy your age like that?" he asks staring into your eyes.

his gaze makes you dizzy but you shrug, munching on your chips, "mhay- maybe," you mumble with a mouth full of food. "i have really bad luck with guys in general, i think."

neuvillette ponders for a moment, "how about older guys? have you gone out with guys that are older than you?" the question came off as innocent to you, if only you had noticed the slight change in his tone.

"oh," you paused. "i mean sort of? i don't know if you would call it that, though," you nervously chuckled. "i liked this guy, he was older than me but i never made a move." neuvillette listened along, glancing at your flustered expression every once in a while. "haha.. but i don't think he would see me in that way, you know? he's older and more mature," you admit.

neuvillette sets his food down, "really? i think you're quite mature for your age," he utters, "i think you should give it a go."

you choke on the potato chips, taken aback by what neuvillette just said. neuvillette is quick to start patting your back and shoving his drink into your mouth. with a few dry coughs, you swallow, "uh, well. yeah, i suppose."

as you were busy catching your breath, you fail to see neuvillette's smug grin. "you seem flustered, y/n." this time, you take note of the teasing connotation in his voice.

a slight blush dusted your cheek, you quickly shook your head, "oh, no! it's not like that," you fumbled over your words. gaping at neuvilette's amused expression. the look of terror was evident on your face, you covered your fsce in embarassment.

"i mean, i'm sure this older guy that you speak of would take you out on a better date than whatever tonight was," neuvillette continued, "what do you think?"

your eyes widened beneath your clammy hands, neuvillette pried your hands off your face and leans in uncomfortably close to stare at you. “i mean..” you stutter, “I would much rather he asks me out.” you gulped, neuvillette on the other hand had a look of satisfaction on his face.

neuvillette hums in agreement, he turned his head to look back at the empty road. “would your brother be mad?” he abruptly asked, breaking the silence.

you take a moment to process his words, “what is he going to do? sue me?” you retort, earning a snort from neuvillette. he nods and pulls himself back onto his feet. he extends his arm, settling it on your head, “do you want to come over? i mean– my apartment is closer than yours. you can crash at mine.” he looks down at you, waiting for a reply.

you raise an eyebrow and grin, “what a way to ask me out,” neuvillette removes his hand from your head and reaches out to pull you up from your sitting position. as you get on your feet, neuvillette places his palm on your waist, guiding you back to his apartment. “what about my brother? isn’t he home with you?” you pause, eyes widening.

neuvillette shrugs, “i’ll sneak you in.”

[janovavalen]

I NEED PT2 TO RECKLESS.. MAYBE WHEN THEYRE AT THE GOLD CHAIR THING??

an: GTFO OF HEREEEEEEE THESE R AMAZING WTHHHH IM LITERALLY UP AT 12:54 GOING THROUGH IT SO BAD RN THIBKIJG IF I SHOUOD GO TO BED OR DO THIS RNNNNN OMG OMG OMG YES?

✧NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU. || percy jackson x fem!reader

summary: in which the group make their way to their new destination only to run across a bit of a bump in the road.

word count: 7,939 (what the actual…)

warnings: awkwardness between percy and y/n, near death experience, the gods literally shipping y/n and percy lowkey bc why not, slight argument. (a little twist in the story<3)

as the group walked and walked on the endless road somehow thinking they’d get somewhere with this pace. y/n walked in the middle of percy and annabeth.

percy would momentarily look at y/n who didn’t meet his gaze. lot to lie to himself but that probably stung almost as bad as the stinger from the chimera.

deciding to talk along the quiet atmosphere around the group, percy began—‘i’ve been thinking.’ as he started, his words gained all their attention.

‘i didn’t steal the master bolt— you guys didn’t steal the master bolt. we’re pretty sure hades has the master bolt, but he couldn’t have stolen it himself. i mean—we don’t even know who actually stole the thing…or why…or, how deep this thing goes’

as they walked and listened to percy speak who talked his thoughts he looked between the group and let his gaze set upon y/n who turned to look at him the second he turned away.

after seeing grover and annabeth not talk or back him up he came to the conclusion—‘i’m the last person to realize this aren't i?’

‘yup—‘ y/n spoke while still not making contact with percy who turned almost immediately to her direction to see she hadn’t been looking at him which he didn’t want to admit but it kinda hurt in a way.

‘yeah’ annabeth spoke while grover nodded to percy who almost rolled his eyes at how he’s just now catching up.

‘okay, so…maybe when we started my head wasn’t fully in this…but since the river…’ looking at y/n who sucked in a breath and turned her head, she turned to the horizon as percy kept talking—‘it all feels different somehow.’ he boldly claimed.

smiling to himself as he thought of two things—mostly one over the other but maiming the second, he spoke once more—‘he saved me. my dad. i guess i just never really thought that’s something he’d do for me. so maybe i gotta take things more seriously now—‘

as he spoke and the group listened, grover couldn’t help but hear something approaching. y/n seeing his head turn to the road behind them she turned as well to see a small dot in the distance.

‘car.’ grover told them. the sound of the engine becoming more prominent as it got closer.

‘that can’t be a car you hear how loud that thing is?’ y/n squinted her eyes trying to see.

‘that’s not a car, it’s a bike. just let it pass.’ annabeth told them, seeing that they had people looking for them on a most wanted, y/n lightly tapped percy’s arm—‘come on’ she spoke as he turned and followed but not without looking behind him.

the group hurrying to hide behind a concrete block on the side of the road to hide; they all sat down into the grassy dirt. their legs outstretched in front of them. annabeth sitting on the side next to grover as percy sat on his other and y/n sitting next to percy.

‘i’m saying, we’re not just trying to retrieve a thing. o think we might need to be detectives here, too.’ percy looked at the group as they listened to him once more to his continued talk.

‘yeah.’ y/n agreed silently as she fixed her legs in front of her along with her pants that had still felt a bit wet. percy looked at her as she looked down at her legs and he felt a slight twinge in his stomach that felt horrible.

reading her face he noticed she was back to her quiet, and awkward self with him—did she somehow hate him again? he just saved her life doesn’t he at least have his name on a talk to list?

‘why are you being weird with me again? i thought we were doing that anymore.’ he asked out loud. grover and annabeth turned their heads to the two to see y/n look up for a second and only squint her eyes and turn her head back down, letting out a sigh as she began—

‘i’m not being weird?’ she frowned her eyebrows as he nodded a bit.

‘yes you are. you’ve been weird since we left the arch.’ he told. as he said this she felt herself get awkward again and blinked her eyes while turning around.

annabeth could almost laugh at this, grover however had never seen her like this before.

‘oh…i get it.’ he boldly claimed while blinking in understanding. did he possibly? y/n turned to him with frowned eyebrows once more.

‘it doesn’t have to be a thing; you know. that we had to—‘

‘stop! it isn’t that, we don’t talk about that—‘

‘i mean, we’re like friends now, best friends. that seems like a best friend thing to do, at least i think they do?’ percy tried so hard to get y/n to speak to him as she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

grover fired his best not to crack a smile or even laugh to earn a hit from anyone so he bit his lip and shook his head—annabeth could practically feel y/n begging for help so she spoke.

‘i saw the fates. back at the arch, i saw the three fates and i saw atropos cut a piece of thread.’ she told them. y/n could almost celebrate when her mind was fed something to distract her.

‘and that’s bad or…?’ percy cluelessly asked them.

‘the fates weave the life of every living thing. when you see a string cut—‘

‘it means one of us is going to die.’ y/n said while looking over at percy.

percy however didn’t catch the hint yet so he claimed—‘we’re all gonna die eventually.’

‘soon. it’s a warning’ y/n told him as annabeth nodded her head.

‘an omen’ annabeth added.

as percy looked at y/b for a bit longer they heard the engine of the motorcycle approaching them from behind.

‘okay guys, we need to talk about this whole fate thing. three old ladies with a ball of yarn can’t know what's gonna happen. what i choose to do changed what’s gonna happen, and i can choose to do anything i….want’ as they listened to the fact the engine didn’t pass them y/n frowned her eyebrows along with annabeth.

‘need some help?’ a man asked.

as the group turned to the brick in front of them as if they could see who spoke they turned to each other before raising to their knees to peer over the brick that stood in their way.

as they poked their heads over the group, they seen a man biker with a long leather jacket that draped over the backside of his black and silver bike. he wore a black helmet and had a large beard on his face.

‘beg pardon?’ grover politely asked.

‘i asked if you could use some help.’ he repeated.

grover looked over at y/n who had wide eyes as she slowly shook her head, which percy noticed and smiled too.

‘nope. no we’re—we’re good. appreciate you asking, though. so long.’ he furnished as the group slowly turned back around to hide once more as y/n gave a awkward tight lipped smile.

the man sighed as he looked ahead of him before saying—‘you don’t seem too good.’

y/n decided to turn and talk this time—‘we don’t need help and we don’t really need anything from you’ she claimed while lowering back down behind the brick and next to percy.

‘you sure? because you guys are so behind schedule’ he scoffed.

as the group heard him say this they immediately rose from the ground to reveal their full bodies and confused faces.

‘i mean, summer solstice is just a few days away. and as much as i’d love to see a good war pop off, as your big cousin, i feel like, maybe, i wanna give you a hand.’ percy frowned as y/n and annabeth knew right away. grover as well but he decided to play a bit cool.

‘cousin?’ he confusing asked as y/n turned to him—‘he’s aries—‘

‘you two girls must be athena’s kids. always gotta be the wisest one in the bunch.’ ares squinted his eyes as he leaned forward on his bike a bit.

‘why would you help us?’ annabeth asked.

‘how do you even know about what we’re doing here?’ y/n asked as well.

‘because i’m doing exactly the same thing as you. zeus sent all of his kids looking out for the master bolt, too. listen dummies, im hungry. there’s a halfway decent dinner up the road. if you want my held you’ll meet me there. but done dawdle. won’t wait forever.’ he finished before placing his sunglasses on.

before he even fully left he gave a look to them before driving away.

‘that’s my cousin? what kind of family is this?’ percy kind of in awe asked.

‘he didn’t want to offer a ride…?’ y/n squinted as she looked off into the distance.

annabeth sighed before tapping grover, ‘come on’ she told them as they began to walk into where he went off to.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

after a bit of their walking they finally arrived at a pretty quiet dinner of which they saw the bike of aries.

walking into the restaurant with the sound of the doorbell and a few distant talking from the people inside, percy made sure that the door stayed open for y/n who gave a small nod and smile which he was quick to return.

looking around as they looked for them they were all met with the sound of loud laughing and a table slap. turning to see ares himself laughing at his phone as he had two plates, a mountain of fries and five big cheeseburgers in a stack.

‘guess this is the right place’ percy told the three as y/n walked forward along with grover, annabeth and percy who was close to y/n.

aries let his outburst of laughter die down as the group walked behind him which he acknowledged and looked at them—‘gimme a second, i’m just starting a fight on twitter here.’ he told them. annabeth slid into the booth first then y/n who was followed by percy and grover.

‘nothing makes me happier than a good old-fashioned, burn-it-down fight. ah…okay, done’ he clicked his last words before looking at the them.

‘so your quest is going to fail. ask me how i know’ he grinned at them as y/n rolled her eyes in annoyance then only to reach forward for a fry which ares seemed to not really care about, percy noticed this and suppressed a smile.

‘it isn’t gonna fail—‘

‘sure it is.’ ares cut of percy with a scoff—‘for starters…’ pulling out his phone once more to show a video of percy’s step dad.

‘percy was always troubled, but i never thought he was capable of something like this.’

‘wh—who’s that?’ grover asked percy who stayed focused on the phone, his face frozen in shock—‘my stepdad, what’s he doing?’

‘and in addition to the destruction at the gateway arch…’ a news reporter added before ares scoffed with a smile—‘wait for it’

‘you believe he may also have had something to do with your wife’s disappearance?’

‘a kid that messed up? what wouldn’t he do?’

‘what?’ percy frowned as y/n looked at him in a bit of pity before back at the phone.

‘wild right? the FBI is already spreading your picture around.’ ares added as they still listened to the phone.

‘it’s a camaro. i really—we really loved that car…so much…cut!’ his stepdad cried like a baby over camera as they stopped the recording.

‘i’m gonna kill him’ percy angrily promised as he shook his head.

‘i knew i was gonna like you’ ares nodded his head with a smile.

‘but safe to say, the chances of you three idiots hitchhiking the rest of the way to L.A. without getting arrested are slim to none.’ he told them.

y/n tiredly scoffed a bit while trying to somehow lean further back into the seat.

‘why are you sitting here then? if you had this to say you could’ve said it back at that brick before you rode off into the sun.’ y/n asked and mumbled with a roll of her eyes. annabeth pinched her a bit, leaving her to aggressively push her arm into annabeth.

percy sighed softly and looked at y/n, noticing how tired she was and made his way a bit closer to her without her knowing it. he hoped she’d at least try and lean on him for a bit of comfort compared to this wooden chair.

‘if your supposed to be looking for the master bolt too, shouldn’t you be out there looking for it?’ annabeth picked up for y/n as she frowned her eyebrows.

‘hmm there’s no fear in the two of you, is there?’ he asked the girls who started him down in the eyes with nothing but pure confidence.

‘doesn't matter. whether the bolt’s retrieved or not, zeus is going to war with poseidon.’ he told the four as they all looked at percy who looked at them before back at ares.

‘no. the oracle said if we return the bolt, there wouldn’t be a war.’ percy told ares.

‘is that what she said? or is that what chiron said she meant?’ as ares finished his sentence he noticed percy’s hesitation who looked around the room before back at ares.

‘yeah. your new to the family, young one, so let me fill you in on how we work. see, years before i was born, my grandpa kronos ate my aunt and uncle’s. yeah. then my dad made him puke them back up, then chopped him into a million pieces and chucked ‘em into a bottomless pit, so that kinda set the tone right outta the gate.’ the bunch taking this in as they looked at each other letting ares continue.

‘olympians fight. we betray. we backstab. we will push anyone down a flight of stairs to get ahead. and that’s why i love my family so much’ he smiled as percy sighed and leaned back a little.

‘my dad knows he’s not getting this bolt hack with quests or goose chases. he knows there’s a war coming. and in reality i think he’s okay with that. i think he feels it’s just time for a way; so we’re gonna have a war.’ as he finished his sentence y/n cringed her whole face as he placed a balled fist on his lips and inhaled.

‘isn’t that great?’ he asked then as if they would even agree. well, maybe y/n, she made bets with people on who would win in a war if there ever was one any time soon and she betted on loads of books.

‘we’re completing this quest. we’re stopping this war. you said you can help. can you?’ percy asked ares with his hard face expression.

‘okay, so here it is. there’s an amusement park up the road. i left my shield there. you get me my shield back, and i’ll get you to the underworld by lunch tomorrow with a plan to invade hades’s palace’ he explained to them.

‘you left your shield? like…you forgot it on the merry-go-round?’ y/n squinted her eyes at him once more as annabeth sighed in annoyance at her sisters words.

ares leaned forward and under the light the hung above to get closer to y/n who leaned forward as well.

‘okay. the chirping was funny to me for a minute, but it is getting old.’ ares warned her as she squinted her eyes and tilted her head a bit.

‘y/n…’ percy whispered trying to get her attention but she still looked towards ares.

‘so do we have a deal, or am i killing all three of you so i can eat in peace?’ he angrily shouted a bit at the bunch as percy became a bit nervous and looked around to see y/n biting the inside of her cheek.

‘okay.’ percy accepted leaving ares to smile and lean back—‘great. one catch. i really do need that shield back, so i'm gonna keep the satyr and wise girl here as collateral so you can’t run off—‘

‘what? no your not keeping them that’s not—‘ y/n shouted as she frowned only to be cut off by annabeth and grieve who spoke at the same time with—

‘okay.’

‘no way’ percy said while y/n turned to annabeth and shook her head immediately.

‘we don’t split up again—‘

‘it’s okay.’ grover reassured as annabeth nodded.

‘if he wanted to kill us, we’d be dead by now.’ grover told them as ares grinned at grover who asked—‘can we just walk them to the door?’

ares sighed and allowed it letting a wave of his hand go in front of them giving them the signal to walk.

‘okay look, don’t engage with him—don’t speak too much and don’t try to make friends, he’ll want to get your riled up, get in your head and you can let him.’ y/n tired to stress as grover shook his head.

‘it’s okay. really. i know what im doing. go. get the shield. we’ll be here when you two get back.’ grover told them.

‘there’s nothing to worry about y/n. besides, this will be quick knowing you’ annabeth added as y/n sighed and nodded a bit.

as the two of percy and y/n hesitated to leave the two they slowly turned around to the door before leaving grover and annabeth with the god of war.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

as the night sky had fell over everyone and the town, percy and y/n walked to the dimly lit amusement park with the sign that said ‘Welcome to Waterland’

‘i haven’t seen a lot of horror movies but this seems like exactly the kind of place they’d suggest to avoid.’ percy commented as the two stopped and stood in front of the entrance.

‘well…i never seen any kind of movie, is it good?’ she asked while looking over to him as he shrugged.

‘okay then, i’d have to take your word for it—‘

‘wait never? what do you mean never like, never-never?’ he asked almost completely shocked at the fact she’d never seen a movie before.

‘is there another kind?’ she responded as he lightly nodded his head.

‘well, if neither of us is dead in a few days, we really ought to fix that. your missing out.’ he told her almost as a promise as she lightly nodded her head in agreement.

‘in the meantime, we should probably get this over with, though.’ as he walked in front of her she slowly followed a bit far behind.

as percy walked through the metal moving doors right when y/n realized what he just did—‘wait, percy stop.’ she told him as they listened to the sound of ticking above percy.

‘what just happened?’ he asked frantically.

‘just hold still—don’t move at all okay?’ she instructed with her hands out to keep him where he was.

‘let me think…’ she replied. the sound of the metal moving against one another above percy clicking.

‘in the mechanism there, that’s Celestial bronze—‘

‘oh, fascinating. y/n, what’s happening right now?’ percy interrupted not too much interested in the subject of bronze.

‘Celestial bronze is what your sword is made of. if your human, it’ll pass right through you. if your a monster or a demigod…’ she trailed off as percy used the rest of his imagination for the rest of her sentence.

nodding slowly he breathed a bit more heavily—‘well what’s it doing there?’ he asked her while looking up, focused on the bronze.

‘i’m wondering the same thing. safe to say this place isn’t some fun amusement park for everyone. a god built this.’ she finally came to the conclusion.

‘what kind of god builds amusement parks?’ percy asked.

y/n looking around and scratching her brain for a answer she finally answered—‘Hephaestus.’

‘why would Hephaestus build an amusement park?’

‘maybe he finds them amusing?’ she answered with her hands lifted a bit.

‘that’s really not funny, y/n.’

‘it could be a little funny, i’ll say the joke again later and you’ll laugh.’

sighing as he rolled his eyes a bit to focus on the situation in hand y/n still looking at the tucking bronze she mumbled—‘oh…oh, look at that.’ she felt mesmerized by the bronze turning and clicking more—‘that’s kinda cool’ only for percy to get her back to reality—y/n!’

snapping back she closed her eyes and focused a bit more—‘just relax, i’m thinking okay?’.

as the two of them looked up at the clicking she finally sighed—‘i get this. just…push through it.’ she instructed.

hyperventilating, percy turned to her with a look of uncertainty—‘push?’

‘yes.’

turning to do so he stopped before actually going and turned to her—‘cause weren’t you the one this morning who was all, “the Fated says one is us is gonna die and we should take it really seriously?”

looking to the side as she recalled her words she rolled her eyes a bit and in a calming voice—‘percy?’

‘yeah?’

‘just push.’ she told him once more.

sighing with nervousness, he placed his hands on the metal bars and started to walk, pushing them on front of him. the gears of the machine clanging together he finally got thought and hurried his way on the other side before anything could happen.

looking up at the yellow boxed of 0’s one turned into the number 1.

‘what’s was that?’ percy asked with a sigh.

‘the machine isn’t designed to hurt us. it’s meant to scare us. it’s a test.’ she told him as she made her way through.

the one on the yellow boxed turning into a 2, representing the number of people who’d entered.

‘Hephaestus wanted to know any time one of us came poking around his playground. i guess now he knows.’ she commented as they took their last look at the machine and started to walk.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

back at the restaurant sat annabeth, grover and the god ares who laughed at his phone.

annabeth and grover gave each other side eyes before he sighed and nodded his head slowly.

‘we’ve met before.’ he told him.

‘been around a long time, little boy. i’ve bet a lot of people.’ ares told him as he still poked at his phone with one finger.

‘i’m 24’ grover told him.

scoffing he replied with—‘good for you.’

giving a tight lipped smile grover continued as annabeth sat back and listened—‘we met at the solstice. on Olympus.’

sighing with a small groan ares mumbled—‘protester.’

‘oh i wasn’t one of the protesters. i’m a fan.’ annabeth looking at him a bit before back at ares who’s finally looked up he replied.

‘i think you got me mixed up with someone else, kid.’ before looking back at his phone, grover shook his head with a small smile.

‘no i don’t’ he stated with a head shake.

sighing ares placed his phone on its face on the table and spoke—‘Satyrs eat tofu. Satyrs worship flowers. Satyrs sing songs about their feelings. Satyrs are no fans of mine.’ he told him with full confidence.

‘Satyrs are children of nature. nature is brutal. red in tooth and claw, right?’ he asked getting a bit more comfortable in his seating next to annabeth who nodded her head as ares looked up at him—‘maybe unpleasant. but that doesn’t make it untrue. you are the champion, all of that. i respect it.’ he told him.

ares squinting his eyes a bit began to speak—‘so what are you like, a casual World War || buff? you’ve seen Saving Private Ryan, have you?’

nodding a bit he looked to the side before looking back at him—‘i prefer the Turbot War. the Lobster War. the Three Hundred and Thirty-Five years’ war. your deep cuts’

‘huh…those are wars where hardly anyone died.’ he noted as grover nodded a bit.

‘i like your mellower stuff. there’s something cool about overwhelming force and a quick surrender.’ he tells him as ares begins to think.

‘no one talks about those anymore.’ he remembers.

‘they should.’ grover told him truthfully while looking him in the eyes, annabeth agreeing.

sighing ares sat a bit closer—‘so tell me where we met again?’ he asked as grover smiled a bit.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

back at the quiet amusement park, y/n and percy walked around as they looked at things trying to find where ares long lost shield was.

‘oh wow, look at that. tell me the god of craftsmen didn’t build this. have you ever seen anything like this?’ y/n asked as she was interested and amused at the rides around her.

‘if it belongs to the god of craftsmen, what was the god of war doing here? aren’t they enemies? then why’d he split without his shield?’ percy asked and wondered while y/n listened to his questions.

‘if i’m guessing…ares has always had a thing with—‘

‘aphrodite. she’s Hephaestus’s wife. oh your kidding, he met her here? in her husband’s park? that’s so wrong—‘

‘in so many ways’ y/n sided with him as she and him walked side by side.

‘they must’ve got caught and he had to leave in a hurry. one thing ares was telling the truth about…this family is a mess.’

as she finished—a song started to play, grabbing the two’s attention. as they looked over they see a pink sign that blinked the words ‘Thrisd Ride O’ Love’ with a small heart above it and a tunnel with pink.

y/n felt hers grow a bit sweaty along with percy who’d looked over at her, the sense of him looking catching her attention as her eyes stayed forward—‘don’t you even try to tell me not to be weird about this.’

‘i didn’t say anything’ he said while looking back at the pink tunnel.

‘yeah but i can feel you thinking it…this must be where ares and aphrodite got caught. the shield must be in there. we just…gotta go get it i guess.’ she said.

percy turning to her and when she turned to him he faced forward, sighing he said—‘sure. let’s go check out the scary ghost ride. why not?’ he said while walking forward.

‘it’s a tunnel of love. what’s so scary about that?’ she teased only for him to roll his eyes.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

after boarding the boat made for two, they sailed along the water in silence, the only noise being made was an occasional light flicker and the water moving together.

y/n letting her face stay forward to avoid any awkward eye contact, they both heard a sudden thud in the distance making percy turn to her as he adjusted his seating in worry.

suddenly the lights made a quicker more aggressive flicker only to hear the song—‘What Is Love’ played throughout the whole tunnel.

the lights dim and the tension gets very awkward.

‘are you kidding me right now?’ y/n commented as she looked around the tunnel brick walls.

‘feel like i’ve heard this before. i think from an orthodontist’s office maybe?’ he tried to remember.

just then a decorative multicolored light stuck down the tunnel, the pair following its glow. the colors now painted a purple that showed over the two. percy looking at y/n but before he could notice she looked at him back once he faced forward.

just then they focus on a back cartoon figure on the wall with a crown on and multiple legs, it moved along the wall to grow and show a small boy who was birthed from the figure.

‘wait. i know this.’ watching more of the cartoon on the wall he finally came to his conclusion—‘it’s hephaestus’s story.’

the two watching as the cartoon hephaestus hammers down onto something and tried to reach and give what he built to the other figure only for it to turn away—its signs of rejection. perturbing to y/n and he turned only for her to look at him then face forward.

‘rejected by hera. rejected by aphrodite…my mom told me these stories all the time. i remember this. she said…’ as he went a bit quiet y/n turned to him studying his face.

‘what?’ she asked.

‘she said this is what the gods are like to each other. this is the kind of family they are.’ he told her.

frowning her eyebrows y/n asked—‘why didn’t you wanna say that just now? she was trying to keep me away from you guys.’ with a bit of shock y/n let her eyebrows lift up while looking at him.

percy turned away and shook his head—‘maybe you were right. maybe she should have been preparing me better.’ he said.

‘maybe she was preparing you. so when you got to us, you’d be different than this.’ y/n told him as he looked at her for a bit longer he finally turned as the cartoon life story of hephaestus finished with him falling on the ground in failure, the light around them turned off.

suddenly a tunnel of green was in front of them and the duo was shot forward and down the waterfall—screaming in shock as they held onto the boat tighter. both of them being thrusted and moved around aggressively, percy looked over at y/n to see if she was okay and once he say that she was he turned forward, her doing the same.

the opening at the end showing more water—‘is it a bad time to say i barely know how to swim?’ y/n exclaimed while frowning, percy looked over to her shaking his head—‘it’s okay!’

as they reached a more settled but aggressive moving water they looked over to see a stage of a gold chair and a gold woman holding ares shield.

‘there it is. ares’s shield.’ as they looked forward to seeing the end of the tunnel as an empty boat was thrown off the ledge of lightning striking in the air they both looked at each other in worry.

‘jump!’ he said as she took a deep breath in and followed him.

panting as y/n struggled to stay afloat she sunk underwater unable to keep up with the pressure. percy swimming under with his hand outstretched with hers, he heard her yell his name in a muffled voice.

outstretching his hand towards her more a force of water threw itself at her then a bigger one once again only for the both of their worlds to go dark.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

waking up with a gasp as they panted for air, the two laid down on their stomachs next to each other on the floor. coughing a bit they both sat up and looked around to see they were face no longer in the water and on the surface of the chair and the woman statue.

‘did you just pull me out of there with that water power stuff?’ she asked while he looked around the floor in confusion.

‘no.’ he said.

‘did you just—‘

‘i don’t know. maybe? i’m figuring this out as i go.’

‘yeah well, u owe you twice…’ she said as the two of them sat to their knees, looking up at the golden statue and the chair in front of it.

‘how are we supposed to get that thing down?’ percy asked as they looked at the shield being held and the chair. y/n studying it she noted—‘these things are connected somehow. it’s a machine but how do you start the machine?’ she asked herself.

the town of them looking around for any clues as to where to begin.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

‘i hate kids. all of ‘em. i hate my own kids.’ he told the two as they listened and only could really nod.

‘um, maybe less than other kids, but still not fond of them.’ scoffing as he recalled some of their prayers to him—“look what i made”, “what are butterflies for?”, “my knee hurts.”—he finishes with a groan.

‘i love my job, but that night everyone's kids show up for the winter solstice and i have to sit through their “presentation.” that night is the worst night of the year, every year, by far.’

‘this one in particular, it seems. since one of those kids somehow walked off with the master bolt.’ scoffing ares shook his head a bit—‘says you. who knows who actually took it. plenty of people hate my dad enough to try.’

‘maybe, but not many people could pull it off.’ he reminded as ares took that into account as he turned his head to the side.

‘someone hades could’ve recruited for the job.’ he tries to say only for ares to shake his head—‘says you’ he replied once more.

‘and someone who could slip away long enough to do it without being missed, bold enough to cross zeus, stealthy enough to get their hands on the thing—‘

‘en—enough. not everything is a puzzle that needs to be solved. your as bad as my sister.’ he groaned. the mention of her mom bringing her attention a bit more making her think about y/n.

‘was she always like that?’

‘who?’

‘your sister, athena.’ grover told.

‘what do you mean?’ ares asked him.

‘always making things more complicated than they need to be so people will think she’s smarter then you.’ as the tension got tight and his eyes staring down grover who was growing a bit nervous along with annabeth who almost gulped—ares slammed his hands down onto the table making a loud thump scaring the two as they jumped in shock.

‘thank you! i can’t be the only one who sees it right?’ he asked.

‘no, not at all.’

‘it certainly feels that way sometimes. and seriously, she’s the smart one? really? if she’s so smart, explain the owl. she talks to it, like, all the time. this fat nasty little feathers rodent. and it’s like her best friend’ he told him in aggression as annabeth thought about her and y/n’s mom with a owl.

that might explain why y/n thought about getting one not to long ago, she definitely had to tell her about it later.

‘and we’re so sure that she’s a genius and i, no owl, am not?’ he said as grover replied—‘totally!’

‘it’s like people only see what they wanna see and ignore anything at all that doesn’t fit the story they like to tell themselves.’

‘exactly! like you being the one to find the lighting thief and not her.’ ares had gone quiet once grover exclaimed this making annabeth a bit tense as the two did then looked at ares who leaned forward.

‘what did you mean by that?’

‘by what?’ grover asked as he played confused.

‘found the thief. we both know your friend didn’t steal the bolt.’ he told him.

‘yeah, but zeus thinks he did, which is kinda all that matters, right?’

‘shut up.’ he instructed grover who watched as ares began to think.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

as y/n and percy looked at the golden chair, the two of them trying to figure out what to do next.

‘it was a gift with a hidden purpose. hephaestus offered it to hera, but as soon as she sat in it she couldn’t get up. all the gods tried but the machine was too smart. it was too strong. it was too much. even for them.’ percy told y/n who looked over at him with her eyebrows scrunched.

looking up he continued—‘finally, they said if hephaestus let hera free, aphrodite would be his wife.’ looking over at y/n as he licked his lips a bit he told her—‘the chair is the bargain. one of us goes in, the other gets the shield—‘

‘i’ll do it.’ y/n immediately said as she began to walk forward.

‘what? wait a minute.’ percy was quick to grab her wet sleeved arm—‘whoever goes in, isn’t coming out. that seems pretty clear.’

‘i know, that’s why i said wait—‘

‘this isn’t the arch, seaweed braid. your not telling me to stay behind, it didn’t work then and it won’t work now—‘

‘yes, i am and yes it will.’

‘i’m not going to let you do it. it doesn’t work that way.’

‘it’s why you’re here.’ he told her as he scrunched his eyebrows, his eyes looking at her.

‘what’s that supposed to mean…’ she asked him.

‘when choosing my team, i told chiron i needed someone who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice me if the quest required, he agreed, that was you.’ he told her as she sadly shook her head and faced forward.

‘you were right, i can’t believe it but the fates were right. there’s no getting around his. we dodged it at the arch, barely, but…maybe this isn’t something you can dodge forever.’

‘the oracle chose you. the gods chose you!’

‘stop! it isn't about that.’

‘what could it possibly be about if it isn’t about that?’

‘your better at this than me.’ when he told her this y/n couldn’t help but sadly look at him in the eyes with her brows scrunched together.

‘you just are. and you know it.’ shaking her head in denial he continued to talk—‘believe me, i wish there was slither way this quest succeeds. i just don’t see it.’ he finished as she sadly looked over at the chair, her heart clutched in a way she can’t explain.

as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pen she gasped when she knew what he was trying to say.

‘percy no…’ she told him while shaking her head. looking up at her ad she kept her eyes focus to his hand with hers pushing it away slowly, he confusingly shook his head.

‘i’ve let you sacrifice your life for mine twice..and i’m not letting you do it again. i owe you a great amount for saving me and this is the way i’m going to do it—‘

‘y/n no this isn’t how it goes—‘

‘it’s how i want it to go! i want it to happen like this and it will. you will get the shield and get out of here to get the bolt and save your mom. you will see her again and you will finish this quest. percy, we barely know each other and you’ve saved me twice. let me return the favor please.’ she told him. he shook his head in denial while his eyebrows frowned only for her to give him a small nod and smile.

placing her hand in his before giving it a squeeze she let go as he could only stare in the spot she was once in and turn his body to where she walked towards the gold chair.

‘can you promise me something?’ she asked while turning around—‘i’m not going to let annabeth get sad and stop the quest.’ he told her as she nodded.

‘i was going to say maybe try and come back with annabeth and get me out this chair? i don’t want to be forever young in an amusement park.’ she tired to lighten the mood, making him scoff with slight tears in his eyes as she smiled.

‘do you really think you had to ask?’ he asked her as she smiled a bit—‘just reminding you’.

turning around to climb up into the chair, she sat down with both of her hands on the sides of it as it started to make noise. looking a bit worried, percy looked at her as she looked around.

‘this is kinda weird. it feels…warm.’ she told percy who had tears forming fast.

looking down, gold started to run up from her shoes and started to make its way up her body.

‘this is a bad idea—y/n stand up!’ he told her.

‘i can’t…’

‘y/n stand up, i mean it!’ he told her more urgently, his face growing more sad but he second as his heart clutched.

‘it’s okay percy…i’m okay….im okay…im—‘ just then the gold finished consuming y/n’s body as she turned into a gold statue in the chair.

shaking his head, percy sadly looked around as he watched the shield fall loose. making his way over it he ignored it and immediately went to work on the gold chair y/n sat still in.

not knowing what he was going he just started to twist random screws and geers. just then a man walked through a door with a beard and a cane.

‘can i help you?’ he asked him only for percy to ignore him completely and try to get y/n out of the chair.

‘do you need some help finding your way out?’ the man playing a flute as it made steps appear out of the water below.

‘so off you go.’ he told him as percy shook his head and started to turn random things once more—‘i’m not leaving without my friend.’

‘yeah that isn’t really how it works. it’s kind of a one way sort of thing. it can’t be undone.’ he told percy who rolled his eyes.

‘how do you know?’

‘because i built it.’ he revealed himself—hephaestus.

‘i’m not leaving here without my friend.’ percy told him once more. ‘and if you aren’t going to help me, could you maybe leave me alone so i can focus?’

‘in spite of what my brother might have told you, i am not someone who’ll be pushed around.’ignoring him as he continued to turn geers and try to get y/n out, hephaestus continued to talk—‘i know her mother was displeased with her recently, but how will your father feel if i told him this?’ he asked percy, making him almost focus on what he was saying.

‘you might not know how he gets, but i do. and this is a lot. even for him.’ standing up for a second percy listened and looked at hephaestus who’s hand held the railing in front of him.

‘you leave out of here with that shield, your a hero, on your way to the greatest glory. he will be proud and your friend might even be forgiven. and all will go back to being as it always has been, always will be, as it should be—‘

‘but it isn’t how it should be! it isn’t! eat or be eaten. peer and glory and nothing else matters. ares is that way, she’s is that way her mother… is that way.’ he told hephaestus who started to look to the side.

‘she isn’t that way. she’s better than that. maybe she was that way once, but she didn’t want to be that way anymore. we won’t be like all of you. i just won’t.’ hephaestus listening to percy as he sadly looked down and turned back to the chair, he almost went back to work only for hephaestus to blow his flute again and the geers started to turn.

clicking and making noise, percy hurried and made his way in front of the golden statue of y/n. her naturally colored eye started to show as she blinked it and the rest of her face coming back to normal, breathing heavily as y/n looked around at herself in the chair, the rest of her body coming undone.

percy happily looked at her as she looked up at him and loved her hands.

getting up as she stumbled forward to percy who grabbed her immediately he held her hands in his while looking over her face with a small smile and a tear dropped from his eye down his face.

‘some of us don’t like being that way either. your a good kid percy.’ hephaestus told him as he held y/n’s arm who worked on standing right.

‘i’ll put in a good word with your dad for you…same with you y/n with your mom.’ as he turned away from the two who looked at him before each other. the door he once went through shut.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

at the restaurant the three heard the bell of the door chime through the restaurant to reveal y/n holding the shield and percy close behind her. annabeth let out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding as grover did the same, ares looking at the two not really believing they did it.

as they walked over to the table, she placed the shield down into the table. y/n and percy looking at ares whilst annabeth and grover looked at percy and y/n.

‘where’s our ride.’ percy started off.

as they walked outside to ares standing behind a semi truck both y/n and percy said—‘your kidding’

ares with a straight face clicked his two fingers together as the doors opened to reveal animals and stacks of hair in buckets and boxes.

‘get in, don’t. i really don’t care. but in a few hours this thing is gonna be at the Lotus casino in vegas. hermes hangs out there, you play your cards right and his personal driving can get you to L.A. in minutes.’ ares told them as he threw a bag at percy who caught it.

‘here. clothes, cash, drachmas to summon hermes. i’d wish you luck, but what good would it do you?’ he told them in his honesty.

‘we’re not gonna fail.‘ percy told ares who grinned.

‘don’t worry. your dad had plenty of kids he stopped caring about once he lost interest. you’ll have lost of company.’ ares tried to make percy feel bad but it didn’t work.

‘we’re not gonna fail, and i’m getting pretty tired of you saying it.’ he started as y/n looked at annabeth and grover.

‘percy…’ y/n and grover said his name in a warning town as ares’ face dropped from its grin.

‘you think you know who i am but you don’t.’ he stated while walking up to ares who kept his eyes trained on him—‘and if you're not careful…your gonna find out—‘

‘percy…’ grover and the two sisters walked up to his side as y/n placed her hand on his arm. percy’s glare not leaving ares’s who stayed the same.

‘so, thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers…and the ride! we’re gonna take you up on that, too.’ grover told ares as he looked back at percy who finally walked off as he was being dragged by grover and given a push by y/n.

the group walking into the bus as ares looked at them as they stood in the portable barn, grover asked—‘hey, do you think we could get some paper towels or something, it’s not that nice in here.’ he finished while they looked around.

ares however only grinned before clicking his fingers once more as the doors shut.

‘well…this smells.’ percy commented.

‘if it gets us where we need to go, that's all that matters.’ annabeth told him as y/n nodded.

‘assuming ares was telling the truth.’

grover turned and picked with his hands as he shook his head—‘he wasn’t…not entirely, at any rate. he was holding something back.’ grover told him.

‘how do you know?’ y/n asked.

‘because, i think i got it out of him. i know who stole the lightning bolt.’

[enixamyram]

I always try to be respectful of religious people, however I have a general little patients for religion itself. And so when I get a book based on real life events and find it is full of religion and religious preaching and such, I honestly find it hard to keep going with it.

But I almost feel like a bitch because this is a really tragic true story and I'm just completely put off by the religious aspect, even though I know this religious aspect is what got people through this traumatic event. I kind of don't want to read but I feel bad, like if I stop reading for the very thing that helped these people get through and deal with what happened, it just feels kind of bitchy...

[sergle]

There's something about like. A certain genre of posts / Online Opinions about insecurity/depression/misery/complaints that are so unhelpful that they wrap right around to being straight up hilarious. and it's the ones that are more or less written to the tone of "Feeling bad? That's gross!" Like, just so you know, don't voice your insecurities/ have low self esteem, because that's offputting! You're gross and weird. Don't be insecure about that, though. That would be stupid if you felt insecure about people disliking you for being insecure. Not attractive. You should be thinking about being as attractive as possible. You shouldn't make comments about suicide, even if you're suicidal! Keep those thoughts entirely to yourself. Make sure nobody around you knows you're thinking about this. It would Make Them Uncomfortable. It's better to keep these thoughts in your head where they can fester. Don't post OR talk to friends with complaints about you feeling miserable or depressed. Tbh people who are sad/upset a lot? Kinda a red flag! You are probably miserable because you're a bad person and you've brought this on yourself. If you don't have friends, it's because you're awful to be around. Easy! Solved the problem for you. And no, there is no nuance to this, got it? So, make sure to feel bad about feeling bad, but don't feel bad about it, because, well, that's just gross. And annoying! You might've wanted your brain rotted thoughts to be Peer Reviewed, you might have just needed to vent- you might've been hoping for some comfort, to get things off your chest. Well, don't! Don't talk about thoughts or feelings that are negative with your friends, you'd be burdening them and that's only meant for THERAPY. #SponsoredbyBetterHelp #MentalHealth like, DAMN. that's so helpful. you're so good at helping. I um really liked the part where these are all hard and fast rules that encourage keeping feelings bottled up and keeping your friends at arm's length. That's really funny of you.

[giantkillerjack]

Favorite part about Death Note is that Light gets the Note and IMMEDIATELY becomes a serial killer fascist with a god complex.

No build-up, no Fall From Grace, no slow corruption of a good boy gradually becoming a monster. Just-- SPEED RUN STRATS. And I love that for him.

Tbh, I think there are a lot of folks (especially boys) from my high school days who would have immediately become monsters if given the power of life and death over every person around them.

It's kind of like how when people have apparently casual ableist beliefs, and you push them to elaborate on that just a little bit, they'll often end up openly saying stuff like "well, some people are just too disabled to be worth the resources it takes to support them." - Which is... eugenics. It's just eugenics, justified by the myth of scarcity. Now these folks almost certainly won't call it eugenics, or even think of it that way. But that doesn't make it NOT a core belief of the Nazis.

In a similar way, Light seems like a nice and well-adjusted boy with strong beliefs. No harm in that.

But to paraphrase Lindsay Ellis in her analysis of the Game of Thrones ending, "Power doesn't necessarily corrupt. Power reveals." [I think she was quoting someone else when she said this. It was someone who wrote a biography on LBJ. Whatever. Lindsay said it and she's smart as hell and I recommend her videos.]

And 15 minutes into the Death Note musical, I'm already thinking about how so many beliefs "casually" held by well-adjusted, nice people immediately reveal their monstrousness when talked through to their natural conclusion.

And I wonder how many of those people, given the power of life and death over everyone around them - the power to take their ideas to their natural conclusions - would also immediately reveal how their lack of self-reflection has laid the groundwork for them to become monsters.

[allergic-to-four-leaf-clovers]

BED!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!

[foolishnpd]

god i don't even know what i want to hear anymore, if i give someone something of mine i think is awful, and they tell me it's not that bad (in a reassuring manner) surely i should just think i was overthinking it. but perhaps i just want acknowledgement that something is as awful as i perceive it to be, even if that would end up being hurtful

[jurweemn]

WcWd: This OC I introduced but refused to elaborate on a couple weeks ago

I should start by introducing him: his name is E'lim! I chose it because it sounded partially like "Eli" with a bit of the word "limb" mixed in. TBH I just mash random syllables together when coming up with names (this was moreso the case back when E'lim here was made, but that's still part of my naming process sometimes)

I mentioned that he usually wears a more plain attire when he appeared two Wednesdays ago. Well, turns out that I never settled on consistent shoes, either. Here's a couple more pixel art drawings I found of him:

There's quite a few more (probably unfinished) drawings of this fella hidden within the containers for nigh every medium I used around 2019-2021. After that? Not sure what happened, but suddenly I didn't like him. Like, I think he'd be more appealing as a character if his arms were noodley but I always drew them so stiff as though they had bones and it looked weird.

Looking back, I didn't have a good enough grasp of how to make this type of character: noodley limbs that definitely don't connect to the rest of the body in an anatomically correct way, oversized shoes that will inevitably result in cursed imagery if taken off, gloves that are likewise over-inflated and never to be removed... huh maybe I should do a character design study on Sonic characters

I also constantly gave him that stupid-looking smile. It reminds me of the Dreamworks face meme now and I hate it. Now, if I were to redesign this guy? I'd embrace the fact that he's supposed to be stylized, and NOT worry about whether or not he appears to have bones because it seems like that's exactly what I did every single time I drew him and, poor guy, that's not a good look for him 😔

...I wanted to end the post with that paragraph, but then I started typing up the other two-thirds of this post in the hashtags. So here's my rant about the canvas sizes: the "Halloween" one was WAAAY too big for starters. There was this whole era of my drawings where I wanted to be able to capture the details that other mediums offer, but I also didn't want to use other mediums because pixel art was what I was best at. I ended up just taking an unnecessarily long time on massive pixel art canvases, all because I had concerns about working in a software like ibisPaint or Procreate. "Pixel art doesn't require brushes, so how would I know which brush to use?" "What on earth is a 'blending mode'?" "I can't draw a straight line for the life of me, and you want me to add weight to them now??" I'm pretty sure most self-taught artists have struggles like those, though; I was just a bit late to it because learning those things wasn't needed in my pixel artist skillset, oddly enough

Anyway. Those two drawings of E'lim with a clipboard are actually some of the last I made, both of him and in oversized pixel art. You might can tell that I was beginning to address all of the problems I've brought up in this post already; the scale on it is smaller than the Halloween drawing, and the face isn't just a widened smile peering directly into the viewer's soul. Regardless I still wasn't proud of how he kept turning out in my drawings (and also didn't fit into my shifting ideas for worldbuilding) so I lost interest in drawing him and he fell out of being one of my main OCs.

[livvyofthelake]

love spending three hours waiting for my mom to be ready to watch a show together only to be told it’s too late once she finally finishes doing other stuff. girl we agreed to watch this tonight what do you mean I’M too late. i was HERE. i was ready the whole time… YOU were the one doing things you could have done tomorrow!!!

[bibleofficial]

ok not smoking cigarettes is not that bad i’ll be honest like i was thinking this was going to be WAY worse

[the-kipsabian]

feeling weirdly validated about my chosen name and pronouns today mmm

[inkykeiji]

CLARI! Hello hello how are you?

There’s this anime I think is VERY much up your alley and I think you would just love to analyze everything about it. It’s called revolutionary girl utena! That being said please google the tw’s before watching it I only started watching it recently and was somewhat aware of them but didn’t google them and one episode (14 I think?) had me like 😧 wtf lol not bc it was particularly triggering for me but it just caught me by surprise!!! But I also have no issue w dark themes If you just google that there should be a link right at the top of the search w a tumblr blog that lists all the tw’s of the show and even breaks it down per episode

(🫣🫣 is it selfish of me to want you to watch it just to see your analysis of it? Even if it’s a 50 page essay I would DEVOUR THAT. That aside it’s also bc I genuinely do think you’ll enjoy it)

hi anon!! <33 i’m okay, super sleepy today hehe

so i looked into it, i’m not 100% sure it would be my thing but i’d be willing to give it a try if it weren’t for the unreality trigger warning. i have suffered from episodes of psychosis in the past and just the short descriptions for the unreality tws made me feel extremely panicky, so i’m not sure if i’d be able to handle that at this current moment in my life.

concepts and topics like that are tricky for me because it really depends on how they’re done, but i’m not sure if i want to risk a panic attack/feeling icky just to see if it’s the case with this piece of art in particular. i might have my boyfriend check it out first and then see what he thinks and if he thinks it’ll be too much for me or not!

i really, really appreciate you being so adamant on checking out the triggers, anon <3 that means so much to me! knowing me, if you hadn’t said anything i would’ve jumped right in and potentially put myself in a very dangerous position.

HAHAHA aw you’re sweet <333 no that makes me feel very flattered!!! very very flattered, and i’m sorry that it might not happen 。ﾟ(ﾟﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ we’ll see!!

[cest-la-venus]

i still don't have the unrebloggable post thing lol

[llycaons]

something else I really love about feast and famine is how wwx isn't all 'wow lan zhan you're the best I can't believe you've been putting up with me I'm SO grateful you're literally perfect even though I'm so needy thank you so so so much' bc that sentiment arises in a lot of fics that handle his trauma or mental health and it's SO tiresome not to mention ooc. like it's not there for no reason bc wwx did express gratitude in canon and lwj IS a really good and supportive partner, but it's really refreshing to see wwx in a stable and reliable enough relationship where, except that one time he was triggered and panicking, he literally never once doubted that lwj would support and stand with him, nor did he ever feel the need to even thank lwj for being a good partner, even through the extremely heavy and difficult work of supporting him through what happened

and they DO communicate a lot, it's more that the gratitude is left unsaid because it's mutually understood to be unnecessary. and as much I'm in favor of them communicating their gratitude to each other, I feel like this dynamic for them is so much healthier and more mature and illustrates how strong their relationship is and how much they trust each other. also the idea of lwj as this...saintlike martyr who nobly supports and reassures a self-hating wwx is really tiring. he has his own struggles to be sure, but he has them away from wwx and the writing doesn't frame him as some tragic, self-sacrificing hero for it. like I love lwj but that's what it should be about, right? this was always going to be wwx's story first and foremost and I really appreciate works that let it be that

[quiirrel]

thanks god. and Jesus. I guess